Engineering and Evolving Viruses to Expand Functionality
Viruses are critical reagents for many biological experiments. In model organisms, they complement the use of transgenics and enable otherwise-impossible functionalities, such as targeted retrograde tracing. In non-model systems, they are often the only option for genetic access to cell types. In humans, they represent by far the greatest hope for gene therapy. Although there are many viral reagents to choose from, nearly all are very small modifications of the naturally occurring serovars. As such, their properties are optimized for the virus’s lifecycle rather than for experimental purposes in the lab or medical uses in humans.
Combined protein & genetic engineering represents the best opportunity to: 1) optimize these critical reagents for purposes for which they are already suitable but sub-optimal, and 2) engineer entirely new functionality into them. This meeting will bring together world experts in the fields of structural biology, protein engineering, genetic engineering, neuroscience, non-model organisms, gene therapy and virology to assemble a first-in-class conference on cutting-edge strategies for viral engineering. This is the future for next-generation viral tools & gene therapy vectors, and Janelia is excited to lead the way.
Application deadline: May 24, 2019 (11:59 p.m. ET)
Organizers
Viviana Gradinaru, California Institute of Technology
Loren Looger, Janelia Research Campus/HHMI
Kimberly Ritola, Janelia Research Campus/HHMI
David Schaffer, University of California, Berkeley
Sarada Viswanathan, Janelia Research Campus/HHMI
Invited Participants
Aravind Asokan, Duke University
Tomas Bjorklund, Lund University
Constance Cepko, HHMI/Harvard Medical School
Deniz Dalkara, Vision Institute
Melina Fan, Addgene
Katherine Ferrara, Stanford University
Nick Flytzanis, California Institute of Technology
Guangping Gao, University of Massachusetts
Alla Karpova, Janelia Research Campus/HHMI
Liliana Maruri Avidal, Ignite Immunotherapies
Thomas McCown, UNC Chapel Hill
W. Allen Miller, Iowa State University
Jason Shepherd, University of Utah
Wesley Sundquist, University of Utah
Benjamin Tenoever, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Luk Vandenberghe, Harvard Medical School
Ian Wickersham, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
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Conference Childcare
Janelia offers safe and reliable onsite daycare for the children of our conference attendees in our Children's Learning Laboratory, with personalized care and extended hours to accommodate the conference schedule. Read more about our childcare options.
